Ellen Bass (born June 16, 1947) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

and co-author of '' The Courage to Heal''.

Life

Bass grew up in Pleasantville, New Jersey, where her parents owned a liquor store. Her family later moved to Ventnor City, New Jersey. She attended

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...

, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1968 with a bachelor's degree. She pursued a master's degree in creative writing at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

, where she studied with Anne Sexton, and graduated in 1970. From 1970 to 1974, Bass worked at Project Place, a social service center in Boston. From 1983 to 2003, she worked in the field of healing from childhood sexual abuse: writing the best-selling '' The Courage to Heal'', developing training seminars for professionals, offering workshops for survivors, and lecturing to mental health professionals nationally and internationally. She is a co-founder of the Survivors Healing Center in Santa Cruz, a non-profit organization offering services to survivors of child sexual abuse. Bass has taught poetry at the low-residency

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts ...

program at Pacific University in Oregon since 2007. She has taught workshops in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...

since 1974 and also nationally. In 2013, she founded the Poetry Program at the Salinas Valley State Prison, which offers a weekly workshop to incarcerated men. In 2014, she also founded the Santa Cruz Poetry Project, which offers six weekly workshops to men and women incarcerated in the Santa Cruz County jails. Among Bass' poetry books are "Indigo," (2020) which was a finalist for The Paterson Poetry Prize, The Publishers Triangle Award and The Northern California Book Award, ''Like a Beggar'' (2014), which was a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Publishing Triangle Award, the Milt Kessler Poetry Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Northern California Book Award, ''The Human Line'' (2007), and
Mules of Love
' (2002), which won the Lambda Literary Award. Her poems have been published widely in journals and anthologies, including the '' New Yorker'', the ''

American Poetry Review ''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizabe ...

'', the '' Kenyon Review'', and ''

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Boston. ...

''. Her nonfiction books include ''I Never Told Anyone: Writings by Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse'' (HarperCollins, 1983), ''Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth and Their Allies'' (HarperCollins, 1996), and '' The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse'' (HarperCollins, 1988, 2008), which has been translated into twelve languages. In 2017, Bass was elected as a Chancellor of the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...

. Bass was named the Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year in 2019. Bass lives in

with her wife, Janet Bryer. She has two children, Saraswati Bryer-Bass and Max Bryer-Bass.

Awards

Bass was awarded the Elliston Book Award for Poetry from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

, ''Nimrod''/Hardman's Pablo Neruda Prize, ''The Missouri Review’s'' Larry Levis Award, the Greensboro Poetry Prize, the ''New Letters'' Poetry Prize, the Chautauqua Poetry Prize, four

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

s (2003, 2015, 2017), Fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation, The

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, and The California Arts Council. "Indigo," (2020) was a finalist for The Paterson Poetry Prize, The Publishers Triangle Award and The Northern California Book Award''Like a Beggar'' (Copper Canyon Press, 2014) was a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Publishing Triangle Award, the Milt Kessler Poetry Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Northern California Book Award. ''The Human Line'' (

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both ...

, 2007) was named among the notable books of 2007 in the poetry section by the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', and ''Mules of Love'' (BOA Editions, 2002) won the 2002 Lambda Literary Award.

Published works

Poetry

* * *
Of Separateness and Merging
'. Autumn Press, 1977. .
''For Earthly Survival''
A letter press chapbook, Moving Parts Press, 1980. *
Our Stunning Harvest
'. New Society Publishers, 1984. . * * * *
Indigo
'. Copper Canyon Press. 2020. .

Nonfiction

* * * *

Children’s books

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Ellen 1947 births Living people Goucher College alumni Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Poets from Pennsylvania Poets from New Jersey Poets from California Writers from Santa Cruz, California Writers from Philadelphia Pacific University faculty American women poets Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry winners National Endowment for the Arts Fellows People from Pleasantville, New Jersey People from Ventnor City, New Jersey People from Santa Cruz, California 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American poets Writing teachers American women academics